Programs

**CES/CESEF Student and Emerging Evaluator advancing Knowledge (SEEK) Award**

Overview

The Student and Emerging Evaluator advancing Knowledge (SEEK) Award builds on the previous Student Paper Contest and earlier versions of the SEEK award, and recognizes student and emerging evaluator excellence contributing to the advancement of evaluation theory and/or practice. SEEK is a joint initiative of the Canadian Evaluation Society (CES) and the Canadian Evaluation Society Educational Fund (CESEF) designed to foster student and emerging evaluator engagement in evaluation, profile evaluation-related work conducted by students and emerging evaluators.

Benefits

The SEEK Award honours up to two exemplary submissions per year, one overall Winner and one Honourable Mention, as follows:

SEEK Award Winner

Cash award of $500.00;
Registration fees, domestic travel, accommodation and meals to attend the annual national Canadian Evaluation Society (CES) Conference with costs reimbursed per CES travel guidelines;
Presentation of Award at a plenary session at the CES Conference;
Publication of project abstract in a CES Web news broadcast;
Invitation to present a paper session at the CES Conference;
Invitation to meet the CESEF Board of Directors; and
Mentorship to prepare a practice note for the Canadian Journal of Program Evaluation (CJPE) based on the work submitted for the SEEK award.

SEEK Award Honourable Mention

Cash award of $300.00;
Registration fees, domestic travel, accommodation and meals to attend the annual national Canadian Evaluation Society (CES) Conference with costs reimbursed per CES travel guidelines;
Presentation of Award at a plenary session at the CES Conference;
Publication of project abstract in a CES Web news broadcast;
Invitation to present a paper session at the CES Conference;
Invitation to meet the CESEF Board of Directors; and
Mentorship to prepare a practice note for the Canadian Journal of Program Evaluation (CJPE) based on the work submitted for the SEEK award.

Objectives

The SEEK Award is intended to increase evaluation capacity in Canada by fostering student and emerging evaluator involvement, profiling new and exceptional contributions to the field, considering diverse contributions that advance evaluation theory and/or practice, and providing exposure to promising students.

Eligibility

Applicants must:

Be registered at the time of application as a full- or part-time student in a Canadian post-secondary institution OR have entered the field of evaluation in the last five years and be working in Canada/ for a Canadian organization
Submit a paper of no more than 3,000 words focusing on a subject of importance to evaluation practice. Papers should focus on innovative practices or lessons learned that will be of interest to the field of evaluation. They should not simply summarize or share the findings of an evaluation

Papers will be assessed based on the significance of the topic, the innovation present in the paper, effectiveness of communication, quality of the work, and potential for the work to be published in the CJPE.

Applicants are encouraged to look at examples of practice notes in the CJPE for an idea of the style of papers that will be successful in the SEEK competition.

Individual or multi-author will be considered. In the case of multi-author projects, the cash award is shared. If a group project is selected to receive a SEEK Award, one member of the group will be financially supported to attend the CES Conference and receive the Award on behalf of the group.

Papers can be submitted in English or in French..

Applicants are permitted to use the tools they have available to them, including Artificial Intelligence (AI) based tools. However, the use of AI must be declared in the application. In addition, the named applicant(s) is (are) ultimately accountable for the complete contents of their application.

Applications

Applicants must send the completed Application Form and the paper to seek@cesef.ca by February 17, 2025. Receipt of applications will be acknowledged.

The application form can be downloaded here: SEEK Application Form_E_2025.docx

Review & Decision Process
Applications are peer-reviewed by a selection panel appointed by the Board of CESEF. Funding recommendations of the panel are presented to representatives of the CESEF Board and CES National Council for final approval.

Key review criteria include:

· Significance of the topic: Does the paper, for example, introduce a new idea, present an innovative application of a method, propose a solution to a challenge?

· Clarity of the work: Are research objectives, motivations, findings/results and conclusions clear to the reader?

· Scholarship: Does the paper demonstrate strong knowledge and understanding of evaluation and the methods/approaches/theories that it is exploring?

· Potential for the work to be published in the CJPE.

The application identifies some key areas of interest to the CES and its membership. While it is not mandatory to address one of these areas in your submission, papers that address one or more of these areas may be prioritized in the event of a tie.

Decisions by the CESEF Board and CES National Council will take into consideration the recommendations of the selection panel and the availability of resources. All decisions are final.

SEEK Award recipients will be required to sign a letter of acceptance.

Past SEEK Winners

Year	Winner(s)	Honorable Mentions
2025	Aimen Zehra, University of Toronto
2024	CES and CESEF were unable to offer the SEEK award in 2024 due to a lack of eligible applicants.
2023	The award was not offered in 2023 because of the award review exercise.
2019-2022	CES and CESEF were unable to offer the SEEK award from 2019 to 2022 due to a lack of eligible applicants, a lack of available qualified bilingual adjudicators, and CESEF board member turnover.
2021	Jason Swinamer, Dalhousie University
2018	Andrea Chow, University of Ottawa	David Buetti, University of Ottawa
2017	Linzi Williamson, University of Saskatchewan
2016	Sarah Sangster, University of Saskatchewan	Beth Peddle, University of Ottawa
2015	Christine Sheppard, Lise Dube, and Kate Ducak, University of Waterloo	Natalie Janssens, Dalhousie University
2014	Jade Anderson, University of Saskatchewan	Allison McCabe, Dalhousie
2013	Chi Yan Lam, Queen's University	Catherine Donnelly, Queen's University
2012
2011	Michelle Searle, Queen's University	Dorothy Pinto , University of Alberta
2010	Rich Janzens, Wilfrid Laurier University	Andrew Lejeune, University of Alberta
2006	Courtney Amo , University of Ottawa	Kerri Lynn Wall , Royal Roads University
2005	Michelle Anderson-Draper , Faculty of Agriculture, Forestry and Home Economics, University of Alberta	Kelly Skinner , Health Studies and Gerontology, University of Waterloo
2004		Isabelle Bourgeois , Faculty of Education, University of Ottawa Audry Ottier , International Development Studies Program, Dalhousie University
2003		Elizabeth Stephens , Psychology Department, University of Guelph
2001	Camille Dumond , Faculty of Health Professions, Dalhousie University	Nathalie Dubois , Public Policy Analysis, École nationale d'administration publique Steven Katz , Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto Stephanie Sutherland , Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto
2000	Chantal Langevin, Psychology Department, Carleton University Ryan Sommers, Medical Informatics, Dalhousie University	Molly den Heyer, Guelph University
1999	Kate Feightner, McMaster University Allison Miller, University of Calgary	Maria Barnes, University of Ottawa Erin Campbell, Halifax, NS
1998	David Hagarty, University of Victoria William Reid, University of Victoria	Jeanne Bessner, University of Alberta
1997	Catherine Worthington, University of Toronto	Renee Williams, McMaster University
1996	Marie Gervais, Laval University	Sandra Koebel-McDonald, Carleton University
1995	Cheryl Madill, University of Waterloo	Louise Gillman, University of Manitoba Daniel Reinharz, University of Montreal Dave Richardson, University of Manitoba
1994	Anne S. Leblanc, University of Ottawa	Brian Boles, University of Alberta
1993	André Gilbert, University of Ottawa France Grenier, University of Ottawa	Manuel Arango, University of Ottawa Anne Casebeer, University of Alberta Lloyd Cowan, University of Ottawa Marita Paul, University of Ottawa
1992	Ron Wall, McMaster University
1991	Tim Aubry, University of Manitoba
1990	Kyle Hutchinson, University of Waterloo
1989	Pamela J. Brett, University of Guelph

The CESEF is an independent organization created by the Canadian Evaluation Society in 1990 and reorganized in 2005 to increase national assessment capacity through educational activities. In 2006, CESEF was officially registered as a Canadian charity.

The Fund maintains partnerships with the Canadian Evaluation Society and the Consortium of Universities for Evaluation Education to promote the shared goal of developing the area of program evaluation by increasing access to education, training and professional development.

We invite interested people, potential partners, students and evaluation specialists to send us their comments and suggestions.

Mailing and Email Address

The Willow Group 401 - 1505 Laperriere Ave Ottawa, ON K1Z 7T1

admin@cesef.ca